Ambassador Bridge billionaire owner Matty Moroun and bridge president Dan Stamper remained behind bars Friday with their lawyers filing more paperwork to have them released from Wayne County Jail.

“It is hoped the Michigan Court of Appeals will hear the appeal of Judge Edwards today,” said bridge spokesman Alan Upchurch.

Moroun’s son Matthew visited his father on Thursday night and reported that his father “was in good spirits,” Upchurch said.

He couldn’t provide any further information on the conditions Moroun and bridge president Dan Stamper were facing in jail. They have been given two of what’s known as VIP cells in the downtown Detroit jail, the same type occupied previously by former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

A three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals Thursday night rejected a request to release Moroun, so lawyers for the billionaire and his top aide again filed paperwork first thing Friday morning with the same court to ask for their release pending a full appeal process.

There are no courtroom arguments made, a simple written decision from an appeals court panel will likely come at some point.
“We hope the appeal’s court agrees with our point of view and Matty and Dan are released immediately,” Upchurch said.

On this side of the border, there was little sympathy among bridge watchdogs for Moroun who was ordered to remain in jail by Detroit judge Prentis Edwards until court-ordered construction work is properly completed on the bridge plaza on the U.S. side.

“Let him see how the other side lives,” said Mary Ann Cuderman, a Sandwich Street resident and bake shop owner. “I’m very pleased with Judge Edwards. I just feel justice was done. It just renews your belief in how the system works. This was a long time coming.”

Backers of competing bridge proposal across the Detroit River were also pleased to see Moroun sent to jail. The bridge owner for years has spent millions in political contributions and misleading television advertising to stop the downriver crossing project which threatens to take away a large share of toll and duty free revenues.

“Moroun and Stamper are in jail where they belong. You cannot continue to ignore a judge’s court order for two years and think that some tricky legal manuever will allow you to avoid responsibility,” said Tom Shields, spokesman for the coalition to build the new government-backed Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) bridge.

“The Michigan legislature should take this opportunity to revisit the legislation authorizing the new (DRIC) bridge. If they don’t move forward to approve the project, the Governor should approve the (DRIC) administratively. Michigan needs a new international bridge to Canada to serve its largest trading partner, create and support jobs and maintain the Detroit-Windsor corridor as the most important trade crossing in North America.”

State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D – Detroit), who represents neighbourhoods around the bridge in Detroit, said Moroun going to jail finally brings justice for residents suffering from traffic and diesel pollution caused by the incomplete plaza project.

“Mr. Moroun and Mr. Stamper have spent years sidestepping and arguing over the agreement they signed with the Michigan Department of Transportation concerning the Gateway Project to link the bridge directly to the freeways. They have used their wealth and power to increase their profits at the expense of the people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the Ambassador Bridge and our state which relies on the bridge as a major economic gateway to Canada that Michigan businesses and industry use every single day. Judge Edwards’s original order requiring the DIBC to comply was issued in February of 2010. But instead of complying, DIBC wasted state resources and jeopardized our community’s public safety and health with legal challenges that they have continually lost. Judge Edwards jailing of these two men states that no one, not even Matty Moroun, is above the law.”

Stay tuned for the latest involving Moroun as it unfolds throughout the day.

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